tenshigirl

brown spots & sunscreens

November 14th, 2011 § 0 comments § permalink

i have to admit, for the 1st 24 years of my life, i did not use sunscreen. sure i see products with spf ratings but i did not know enough about them to start using them. after my 2nd pregnancy, i started getting these tiny brown spots on my high cheekbones. i did not know why or how but found out “it’s caused by the increased production of melanin, the tanning hormone, which protects the skin against ultraviolet light.” (link here) for me, that means these brown spots. of course, i started using sunscreen randomly afterward and use them almost everyday during my third pregnancy.

fast foward a couple of years to the present; i do not go out without at least wearing something with spf 20 or higher. i also have multiple bottles of various sunscreens throughout the house. everyone put them on before a day out and about unless it’s raining or overcast.

my current staples are the neutrogena ultra sheer liquid spf 55 or 70 for face and coppertone foaming spf 75 for body. i love liquid (and foam) sunscreens and they are so easy to apply. there is no way i’m going back to creams. LOL

anyway, the real reason i’m using sunscreen religiously is because i do not want anymore of the tiny little brown spots, cute as they are. hahaha my mom has a lot of them so i’m really trying to prevent them even though it may be a genetic thingie. i read that it is nigh impossible to get rid of them but darn if i don’t try. i am using ddf’s discoloration pods and today’s the 2nd day. i got them off ebay, new and sealed, for a really low price so i figured there’s nothing to lose (except the brown spots). i couldn’t take a photo of my brown spots today but i’ll try tomorrow.

well, wish me luck!

bb creams

November 13th, 2011 § 0 comments § permalink

i recently came across bb creams a few weeks ago. i really like the thought of something between a tinted moisturizer and a full on liquid foundation. i do not use foundation as i feel like they are too thick for me.

skin79 vip gold bb cream

skin79 hot pink bb cream

missha perfect cover bb cream

i bought skin79′s hot pink bb cream, the VIP gold bb cream, and missha’s perfect cover bb cream in #23. both the skin79 only come in one shade and the missha have several shades. unfortunately, i am medium-tone so both the skin79 were too light and there is a definite grey cast. the missha #23 is also too light for me but i love the feel of this bb cream more than skin79′s. with the right shade, i may really like this one.

the coverage is good and the cream can be a bit of a hassle to spread (must be because i’m so use to liquidy creams including tinted moisturizers).

frankly, i’m afraid to try anymore (except missha in #27) since they are all so light in shades. i have an order of a few samples from missha coming so i’ll test those out and then no more random bb creams.

adoramapix: 16x20s

September 5th, 2011 § 1 comment § permalink

top 4 frames – 16x20s from adoramapix

the only place so far that i’d ordered 16x20s from was costco and i have not order any for a while as i wasn’t so happy with the last batch. they were a lot darker than the originals for some reason. yep, i was quite turned off.

so, adorama’s last promotion that ended on 8/23 was all 16x20s were half off, making them about $4.60 each. i said why not as i have been meaning to make some enlargements of a few photos. james’ account also had a $10 credit for signing up a year ago. i was up until midnight of the 22nd (yeah, i’m a procrastinator…LOL) reading up on the best format, size, dpi, etc for the size i wanted to get. i ran each of the images through totally rad’s lux photoshop action, saved them in tif’s and sent them off with both my toes and fingers crossed that they would look okay once printed. total paid including shipping and applying the credit was $15 and some cents.

the prints showed up on saturday, via priority mail and i tore into it as soon as i got home from the dealership, which is another story.

i braced myself and took them out of the package with only myself looking at them. they blew me away!!! the paper was thick and the prints look so much better than i’d anticipated which is always always a good thing!! i showed it to my family and they all exclaimed about how nice it looked. i uploaded them in a 2000 x 3008, 300 dpi format. they had to be cropped a bit to fit the 16×20 frame. when that happened, the dpi went down on all to 120 – 150 so i was really preparing myself for the not so good prints. let me just say, they still look fabulous!! i guess i don’t know much about the dpi stuff but i’m just so glad!

the frames cost me a whole lot more, let’s just say. if anyone know of another way to mount, frame, etc photos cheaper, i’m all ears!!

adoramapix is totally recommended and i’m waiting for their next sale to get more prints.

talking about prints, i really want to get the canon pro9000 photo printer as my ip5000 can’t do prints anymore, not even 4×6′s. i ordered from adorama 6 packs of the 50 canon photo paper pro II 4x6s and 30 of the 13×19 canon photo paper pro platinum that i’m itching to print on but i need a printer first. LOL i paid $13.32 for all the 4×6′s and $32.85 for the 13x19s which is a steal considering the quality of the photo papers. i have tried the regular photo paper plus from canon and i wasn’t that impressed.

so, hopefully i’ll get my printer soon…one of these days.

turning five…

September 3rd, 2011 § 0 comments § permalink

turning five

credits: capitvated visions love who you are kit
simply tiffany template 26

first day of kindergarten

September 2nd, 2011 § 0 comments § permalink

kids are growing way too fast!! my 4 year old started kindergarten this year!! *cries*

Day 95 – project 365

February 27th, 2011 § 0 comments § permalink

my kids have been sick for almost a week! it’s very hard to watch them all feverish and not eating well. i’m glad they’re still taking in lots of liquids. my 4 year old recover much quicker, while my little boy is still fighting it. their doctor said to make sure they’re still drinking alot even if they don’t have much of an appetite. *sigh*

today, i manage to sit next to my sleeping guy and scrapped 2 pages. that’s it.

i hope everyone’s weekends are much better than mine.

credits: fruitloOpsally & sara gleason’s sleep tight don’t let the bed bugs bite template

& deca designs memories kit

credits: fruitloOpsally & sara gleason’s sleep tight don’t let the bed bugs bite kit & template

Day 85 – project 365

February 17th, 2011 § 1 comment § permalink

i’m changing this Project 365. i know i started it with the intent to take a photo a day. i’m not doing a very good job. 3 kids can be a (great!) distraction in itself and so i forget. so now, i’ll just try to blog every day. we’ll see if i can keep up. i wish i can get the wordpress app on my android to insert images correctly. if that would only work, it’ll be a cinch to blog and attach photos without my pc.

anyway, some layouts :